The post-divorce legal proceedings between Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry and her ex-husband, French actor Olivier Martinez, have taken another complex financial turn. The 60-year-old actor is officially asking a Los Angeles judge to order Berry, 60, to cover $240,000 of his accumulated and projected legal expenses as the pair continue to navigate custody arrangements for their 13-year-old son, Maceo.
According to court filings obtained by TMZ on Wednesday, November 4, Martinez claims he can no longer bear the mounting costs associated with the high-profile litigation.
In his formal financial declaration, Martinez requests $176,522.58 to settle outstanding unpaid legal invoices, along with an additional $63,477.42 to fund anticipated attorney fees for upcoming custody hearings—totaling exactly $240,000.
To demonstrate financial need, Martinez’s court filing outlines an average monthly residual income of just $776.34 against estimated monthly living expenses of $17,555.99. The filing also lists $43,206.22 across his remaining personal bank accounts.
The emergency financial motion arrives less than a week after a significant evidentiary ruling in the case. On October 29,Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Shelley Kaufman officially dissolved a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Berry and denied Martinez’s request to make the order permanent, ruling that Martinez failed to meet the legal burden of proof required for a permanent protective order.
However, the court maintained the existing temporary physical custody schedule, leaving Maceo primarily in Martinez’s care while restricting Berry’s visitation rights to daytime hours without overnight privileges.
The court has not yet ruled on Martinez’s petition for attorney fees, and legal representatives for Berry have not publicly filed a formal response.
